


[insert corny title here]

by mercutiglo



Series: Tumblr Fics [10]
Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Apologies, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Exhaustion, Fluff, Fluff with Hurt/Comfort, Getting Lost, Happy Ending, I swear to god this is still fluffy, It's just the apologies and the conversation that juno and peter need to have, M/M, Other, corn maze, puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 00:55:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21291047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercutiglo/pseuds/mercutiglo
Summary: a tumblr prompt from ages ago, "juno/peter getting lost in a corn maze"(this started out as pure fluff then turned into fluff with a bit of emotional h/c)SEASON THREE SPOILERS (kinda)
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Series: Tumblr Fics [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1181351
Comments: 6
Kudos: 75





	[insert corny title here]

"Juno, are you certain that we have to do this?" Peter was dressed impeccably as always, but not necessarily in seasonally appropriate clothing. "I just don't see why-"

"Because, Mistah Peter, it's gonna be fun!" Rita turned to look over her shoulder for a moment before disappearing into the maze.

Juno grabbed his hand, smiling sarcastically. "Yeah,  _ Mistah Peter. _ It'll be fun!"

Peter leveled a glare at Juno as he tugged Peter along. "Hey, Rita's the only one allowed to call me that. Don't ignore me." But Juno was already inside the maze and they realized they weren't prepared for what Rita had dragged them into. 

It was Rita's idea for everyone on the ship to have some fun and partake in some old Earth traditions. There was a place on Jupiter that did year round "Fall Festivals" which no one really understood the full history of except for Jet, and the only person who cared enough to listen to him was Rita, which didn't necessarily mean she understood it all. There were pumpkins and corn all over the place - all obviously synthesized so that they wouldn't have to worry about growing conditions, and also so that they were ripe all year round - and other performances. Many people came to these dressed up in costume - some other Earth holiday - and would go around to random houses they had set up at the festival and take part in an activity called "Tricker Treating" where they actors inside the houses would play simple tricks on the people that came around and then give them candy afterwords. 

The main attraction, however, was a giant corn maze. They had grown the corn in specific patterns so that it was confusing and hard to get through, confusing the patrons and ensuring that they would get lost and require maps from the various kiosks throughout the maze, as well as hot refreshments sold throughout at periodic times. Buddy, Vespa, and Jet had all been very cautious as soon as Rita mentioned that she wanted to go into it, disappearing into the Apple Orchard to find fresh fruit (again, synthesized) so that they could avoid it, but Juno and Peter hadn't quite been fast enough to evade her desperate pleas. And while they didn't necessarily want to go, they also didn't want to let her go inside by herself, which meant they had to go with. 

"Rita dear, wait for us!" Peter shouted tiredly, realizing that there was no way to see through the corn stalks, making it truly a maze. Juno was pretending to be happy about the situation, but in reality Peter could tell how on edge the detective was, sure that something was to go wrong at any moment. "Juno, are you alright?" 

Juno looked up at Peter and it was clear there was concern in his eye. "Oh, yeah, just great. Rita just disappeared into the maze with the map, the others all knew this was a bad idea, and there's no way to get back out at this point unless we make it through the maze. I'm really just loving this whole situation, really."

Peter sighed the detective. "Now Juno, you don't need to take up quite such a tone, I'm sure we're going to have -"

"Boss? Mistah Peter? Is that you?" Ritas voice sounded like it came from the other side of the corn on their left side, scaring the both of them. 

"Rita? Where are you?" Juno reaches his hand down for a gun that isn't there, not because he wants to shoot dear Rita, but because that's his reaction to being startled.

"It's okay Mistah Steel, I'm on the other side of this corn. If you go up, take two lefts, a right, another left, and then the second path on the left, you'll get over here."

"Perfectly understood, Rita." Peter took Juno's hand from where it was grasping, holding onto it with both of his own. Juno turned to look at Peter, having not even realized that he had been reaching for anything. 

"Do you two need the map? I could probably pass it to you through the corn stalks," Rita offers. 

"You know, I think that would be lovely, don't you agree Juno? Let me just - ow!" As Peter reached towards the stalks of corn, there was a light zapping noise as some kind of forcefield preventing anyone from touching them.

"Attention: Please refrain from touching the stalks of corn. If you're having trouble with the maze, please find the nearest concessions booth for assistance. Continual efforts to pass through or touch the corn will be met with severe punishment." The announcement seemed to be coming from the corn itself, through unseen speakers. 

"Sooooo.... Good luck?" Rita sounded slightly concerned, but overall not too perturbed. "I'll meet you by the haunted house when we're done!" There was a soft sound of Rita running off through the slightly dampened soil that lined the bottom of maze. 

Juno let out a sigh. Peter looked at him, slight pity in his eyes. "We'll at least have fun?" he played, pulling the same reasoning that he had already been told.

Juno just stared back at him, exhaustion already prevalent in his eyes. "Let's get through this." 

\----

An hour went by and it seemed like it had been days. There had been a few times where they thought they were on the right path only to be led to a dead end, usually with some sort of cliche decorations waiting to "scare" them. After a while, Peter realized it was actually kind of fun, twisting in between all the stalks, if frustrating at times. 

Juno wasn't having quite the same experience, every corner bringing them new surprises, and new potential for something dangerous to be waiting for them. 

Eventually they hit a dead end with a map on a post and Juno just sat down on the ground. "That's it. I'm over it."

Peter looked at the map and realized that they were maybe halfway through the maze at best, a quarter of the way through at worst. He knelt down next to Juno. "Come on, Juno. We'll get out of here eventually."

"Yeah, when they close down for the night and chase us out with clowns or something. I think I'm getting dizzy from all the backtracking we've had to do. I just want to be done." He put his head in his hands. "It's been at least twenty minutes since we saw another person and we don't have any reception, so we can't even use our comms to help us out of here or to tell the others where we are. I didn't want to come in here in the first place, and it's just -"

"Shhhh, Juno, it's alright." Peter sat down on the ground next to Juno and wrapped his arms around him. It took Juno a moment, but eventually he took his head out of his hands and instead placed it in Peter's chest, wrapping his own arms around Peter. "We can just sit here for a little bit, that's okay. It's not a race or anything."

"Yeah, but I'm sure Buddy's gonna say something about how we're "holding up the rest of the crew" and how "if we can't manage to make it out of a damn maze, how the hell are we supposed to make it through some building we don't know" and I just don't want to hear it." Juno muttered his way through his complaints, his imitation of Buddy half-hearted at best when usually he never backed down from a chance to mock their leader. "I'm just tired."

It was a complaint that Peter had heard from Juno before, but he knew that it meant more than it sounded like. He understood that Juno's "tired" was usually far beyond not getting enough sleep the night before, and was a mixture of frustration at the way things currently were mixed with a series of other frustrations. "Hey, look at me." Juno didn't respond. Peter put a hand under Juno's chin, forcing him to look up. "Look at me." Juno did reluctantly, tear tracks down his cheeks that he quickly tried to wipe away. "I understand that it's been rough recently. I know that it's been a lot of work and that Buddy can be annoying and Vespa can be aggressively irritating and I myself haven't been the best for you recently I'm sure. I can't apologize for the others, but I can apologize for myself. I don't want to make things harder on you. I know that my being here hasn't made things -"

Before Peter could continue, Juno cut him off with his lips. It was familiar and strange at the same time, something that felt right and yet took a moment before it could feel that way, taking a moment to remember how they fit together. When he pulls away, he stands up quickly, feeling unsure about things. "I'm sorry. For that, for leaving. For having a breakdown in the middle of a corn maze." Peter stood up as well, putting his hands on Juno's waist. "I know I've grown, I've moved on, but also I haven't. There's been a part of me looking for you every day since I left. It got smaller than it used to be, but it's still there. I ju-" 

It was Peter's turn to interrupt Juno, pulling him closer by his waist. This time they fit together a bit better, a bit faster. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I haven't grown the same way you have. I'm sorry I've been making things harder for you this past month. I'm sorry I knew where you were the whole time and didn't come back."

"But I left you."

"But I never took the time to find out why." 

Juno tilted his head into the crook of Peter's neck, holding the tall man close. Peter pulled Juno in as tight as he could, hoping that if he held on tight enough, Juno wouldn't be able to slip away again. 

"Mistah Steel? Mistah Peter? Where are you?" They heard the faint voice of Rita calling out to them. They pulled apart, taking a moment to share a silent glance, before Juno looked down at his comms. He realized it had been two and a half hours since they had entered the maze. 

"Oh god we've been in here that long?" Peter looked at the time and his eyebrows nearly shot off his face. "No wonder Rita is looking for us."

"We have to go back this way anyways, right?" Juno asked, looking briefly at the complicated map they were sat by.

"That is how dead ends work, Juno dear." Peter gave Juno a quick smile before taking Juno's hand and leading him towards Rita's voice. "Rita? I don't know where you are, but we're over here!" 

A couple minutes later, Rita turned the corner. Peter anticipated her arrival, gripping Juno's hand tighter. "Boss! Mistah Peter!" She saw that they were walking closer than they had been when they entered the maze, that they didn't appear to be as awkward around each other. "I'm not... I'm not interruptin' nothin', am I?"

Both of them immediately began to deny it, "no no no no no"s and "what? of course not"s intermixing, causing Rita to laugh. "Please just get us out of here, Rita," Juno pleaded.

"You know, Miss Aurinko ain't too happy -"

"We'll deal with Buddy when we get there. Help us get there?" Peter made eye contact with Rita and seemed to have some sort of quick yet unspoken agreement. 

"Of course. This way." Rita began to walk down another path, quicker than Juno and Peter would have liked, but the setting sun made them walk just quickly enough to not lose her, hands clasped the whole time. 

When they finally emerged, the other three crew members were standing around, not looking all too pleased. Before Buddy could even start speaking, Peter began explaining. "Our sincerest apologies that it took so long, there were some unforseen complications and -"

"I don't wanna hear it, Ransom. Did you have a good time?" Buddy's unexpected question surprised them both, the slight smile on her face both reassuring and disconcerting at the same time.

Juno looked at Peter, who looked back at him. Peter looked perplexed, which just made Juno chuckle. "Well, you know, I might go so far as to say it was a-maze-ing." 

The others took a moment to take in Juno's joke, with Rita being the first to start laughing. The others joined in, although seemingly unwittingly. Peter just let go of Juno's hand and began walking away. Juno was nearly doubled over laughing. "Wait, Peter, was it too.... Was it...." 

**Author's Note:**

> Ya gotta admit, that's a lot fluffier than most of the shit I write at the very least. 
> 
> Apologies to whoever requested this long long ago! I'll make sure to answer the ask once this up considering it's still in my ask box! But also thank you for requesting it!
> 
> Hope yall are ready for lots of fics! I realized I haven't uploaded much this year and so with two months until the end of the year, time to dive in and write a ton for all the validation!
> 
> As always, kudos/comment/subscribe if you enjoyed it! (ALSO, if there is enough desire for it, I may consider writing a NSFW insert for some of that time that they're getting lost in the maze. BUT only if people are like, into that and want it. So let me know!)


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